We went to a matinee today. All four of us, together, in the same theatre at the same time. A rarity. Most Saturdays we are scattered, the kids out with their friends, me and the husband running errands, doing stuff around the house. Shopping for wine.

I thought it would be years before we would want to see the same movie together again. The last one was Despicable Me 2, and both the boy and the man promptly fell asleep mid-way. Truth be known, I nodded off myself for a couple minutes at some point, as I recall. The only one who didn’t miss a beat was my daughter – after all she was the one with a minion T shirt.

Today was fairly spontaneous – I got a call from my son while driving my daughter back from dance class, asking if we wanted to go out for lunch and a movie, the whole family together. This was fantastic because 1) it was such a great idea and 2) it was my son who made the call. He would normally rather be doing anything else – he’s 16.

We’d all seen the trailer and the movie reviews for Arrival which opened last week – they were almost unanimously excellent (Rotten Tomatoes 100% for the first week, which I have never seen.).

The verdict? All of us were blown away.

What struck me is that while it could be classified as Sci-Fi, I certainly saw it more as a philosophical drama about humanity, communication and love. Even if the visitors looked like a cross between elephants and squids. Amy Adams continues to astound me with her talent, playing a smart, strong woman, a worldwide expert, and a mother. A grieving mother – every scene with her daughter brought tears to my eyes. Even Jeremy Renner was convincing as a scientist.